ESSEX – Expect things to heat up in the semifinals of the Bill Stobbs Division semifinals in the Provincial Hockey League.

The division’s top four teams were separated by four points in the regular season and cruised through quarter-final play. Things are expected to get tougher as the top-seeded Essex 73’s opened against the fourth-seeded Amherstburg Admirals on Tuesday and the second-seeded and defending champion Lakeshore Canadiens faced the third-seeded Dresden Kings.

Following is a brief look at each series after the 73’s got a goal from Luke Gecse at 13:52 of the second overtime to take the series opener 3-2 over the Admirals.

Michael Ruttinger scored twice for the 73’s. Caleb Paquette and Cory Burns had single goals for the Admirals, who had an overtime goal waved off and failed to convert on a penalty shot. Ben Larder made 57 saves in the Amherstburg net as the Admrials were outshot 60-35. Game 2 of the series is Thursday at the Libro Centre.

After a scoreless first period, Dresden scored the only goal of the middle frame and added two more in the third period for a 3-0 win over the Canadiens at the Atlas Tube Centre. Game 2 is Wednesday in Dresden.

This is the fourth time in five years that the 73’s and Admirals will meet in the playoffs. The two met in back-to-back finals in 2014 and 2015 with Essex prevailing in both series.

“Familiar territory for us,” Admirals defenceman and captain Austin Jennings said. “We know what they’re about. It’s developed the rivalry. We do have a rivalry, regular season, playoffs, even exhibition games, it doesn’t matter. We’ve developed a good rivalry and it’ll be a fun series.”

But how do the Admirals, who have also lost twice in the semifinals in the past five years against Essex, manage a breakthrough?

“On paper, we can compete,” said Admirals head coach Paul Bortignon, who has former 73’s players Eric Shaw and Dan Slipchuk on his coaching staff. “Being the road team, we have to get one (in Essex) and we might need two.

“We’ve been a good road team, down the stretch, and we’ve got guys playing well at the right time.”

Amherstburg swept Mooretown in the first round with Josh Talerico scoring four goals and Paquette and Burns putting up seven points each. Goalie Ben Larder was solid with a 2.25 goals-against average and a 937 save percentage.

“They’re always a gritty team,” 73’s captain William Stadder said of the Admirals. “They always have enough depth. They’re always good. They’re always consistent. They’ve got a key player at almost every position.”

Stadder sat out the first of a two-game suspension on Tuesday for coming to the aid of a teammate in the series finale against Petrolia and was called for being the third man in a fight.

“Same scenario, I would have done it again,” Stadder said. “It’s definitely tough watching, but these guys are more than ready.”

Josh Pope-Ferguson had a big series against Petrolia with four goals and nine points and Connor Meyerink took over in net after Jax D’Hondt was steamrolled in a game.

“To get to the final, it always seems that we need to go through Amherstburg,” Langlois said. “Two former players behind the bench, it’ll be a highly emotional series for sure.

“For us, we have to play with composure and get in on the forecheck. That’s not a secret for any team, but I think we match up really well.”

Lakeshore head coach Anthony Iaquinta knows this series won’t be easy for the defending champs.

The Kings won three of the five meetings with two of the games going to overtime.

“They give us a lot of trouble,” Iaquinta said.

The Kings boast division MVP Nolen VandenBoom, who gets plenty of support from defenceman Lucas Spence while Dawson Winchester also had a big first-round series. Brett Brochu has been solid in net all season.

“They’re big, they’re strong and fast and work really hard,” Iaquinta said. “Plus, they have a really good goalie that’s tough to score on.”

Balance has been key for the Canadiens all season and to be successful will have to continue for Lakeshore in this round along with keeping games tight.

“For us, we don’t get in too many big scoring games,” Iaquinta said. “It’s just about keeping it tight. We don’t need one guy, if we have 18 we’ll be all right because we’re deeper than a lot of teams.”

And the Canadiens are the defending champs with several returning players that know what it takes to win. Jake Nimmo was solid in the first round with four goals and six points while Blake Bain added six assist and goalie Erik Morneau won all three of his starts with a 1.67 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.